Sarah Marcus is a freelance journalist based in Tbilisi.

Differing media challenges to President Mikheil Saakashvili

Two interesting media stories – one is the next installment of the case recounted here, about the allegations by a regional Georgian newspaper that one of its journalists had been blackmailed by officials from the Georgian special services and the subsequent launch of an internal investigation by the Interior Ministry. Now President Saakashvili has received a letter from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum urging him to ensure thorough investigation and saying “We are seriously concerned that Georgian security services would seek to blackmail a journalist and interfere in editorial freedom. Such tactics are reminiscent of the Soviet-era KGB and have no place in a modern democracy”. Read the full story here .

And the second story is that the man who originally made Saakashvili king and who has since become one of his most outspoken critics is taking on a new project which some think could seriously undermine the President's hold on power. Erosi Kitsmarishvili is a media tycoon who back in the early 2000s transformed a small television channel, Rustavi 2, into Georgia's most popular broadcaster and then used it to ruthlessly criticise the then President, Shevardnadze, and to stir up enthusiasm for the street protests which became known as the Rose Revolution and swept Misha to power. Now Kitsmarishvili has taken on the management of another tiny tv channel, Maestro TV, this one starkly opposed to Saakashvili and says he plans to make it like Fox News. He told Eurasianet he will 'cover everything that is happening in Georgia and beyond and if people want to revolt based on what they see, that is their right'. But others doubt that Kitsmarishvili can do it again. I urge you to read the insightful Eurasianet article about this story, based on a revealing interview with Kitsmarishvili.